Prospera Celebrates Local Hispanic-Owned, Small Businesses

ORLANDO, Fla., Sept. 27, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic development organization Prospera will celebrate its signature annual fundraising events virtually. On Wednesday, September 30, Prospera Success Stories Day will consist of three online events for its respective regional office in Florida: West Coast at 9:30 a.m., South Florida at 12 noon, and Central Florida at 3:30 p.m. The theme for this year's event is The Power of One. Each program will feature stories and testimonials of local Hispanic business owners who have received assistance from Prospera, about their response to the pandemic.

The 2020 Prospera Success Stories in the West Coast of Florida is presented by Duke Energy, and will kick off the day-long celebration of Hispanic entrepreneurship at 9:30 a.m.

• Small business owners from the Greater Tampa Bay Area will share their stories. Other event speakers will include Prospera Statewide Board Chair Eddie Soler from Advent Health and Regional Board Chair Sheri Eaton from Suncoast Credit Union; Michelle Cavallo, Duke Energy Corporation; Steve Schultz, Wells Fargo; Santiago Corrada, Visit Tampa Bay; Cristina Abreu, Nielsen; Francisco Huertas, Bank of America; Prospera Regional Vice President Fabian Yepez, and more.
• Event sponsors: Presenter Duke Energy; Hosts Advent Health, Bank of America, Nielsen, Truist, Visit Tampa Bay and Wells Fargo; Champions Florida Blue, Helios Foundation, Hill Ward Henderson, MUSI Studio, Suncoast Credit Union and JP Morgan Chase; and Supporters City of Clearwater, GTE Financial, Regions Bank, Florida SBDC at USF, and TD Bank.

The 2020 Prospera Success Stories in South Florida is presented by Florida Power & Light Company at 12 noon.

• In addition to small business owners in Miami-Dade and Broward Counties, event viewers will hear from Irene White, FPL; Alejandra Hoyos Nuñez, Wells Fargo; Clara Diaz-Leal, Bank United; Arthur Costa, Truist; Alex Dominguez and Thais Asper, AT&T; George Bermudez, Bank of America; Mary Ann Cruz, Amerant; Reynaldo Santana, ?Iberia/First Horizon Bank; regional volunteer committee chairs Yvonne Boucugnani and John Lopez; Prospera Regional Vice President Myrna Sonora, and others.
• Event sponsors: Presenter FPL; Hosts AT&T, Bank of America, Bank United, and Wells Fargo; Champions Amerant, Florida International University, Iberia/First Horizon Bank, JPMorgan Chase, Truist, MUSI Studio, and Walt Disney Parks & Resorts; Media Partners Univision Communications and Telemundo; and Collaborators AT&T, Balsera Communications, Capital One, Helios Foundation, Miami Downtown Development Authority, Ocean Bank, Regions Bank, SBDC at FIU, TD Bank, Waste Management, West Kendall Baptist Hospital, APA Creative and Work Magic. 

The 2020 Prospera Success Stories in Central Florida is presented by OUC ? The Reliable One at 3:30 p.m. and will culminate Prospera Success Stories Day.

• Prospera clients from Orange, Osceola and Seminole counties will share stories, in addition to messages from local elected officials; Luz Aviles, OUC; Angel Buchanan, Wells Fargo; Marisol Romany, Orlando Health; Dr. Edwin Hernandez, Advent Health; Sheila Torres, Bank of America; Prospera Regional Board Chair Conrad Santiago, Trentham Santiago Group with Ameriprise Financial; Prospera President & CEO Augusto Sanabria and Regional Assistant Vice President Katia Medina.
• Event Sponsors: Presenter OUC ? The Reliable One; Hosts Advent Health, Bank of America, Duke Energy, Florida Blue, Orlando Health, Orlando Magic, Truist, Walt Disney Parks & Resorts, and Wells Fargo; Champions Plaza del Sol, The Trentham Santiago Group, MUSI Studio, and JPMorgan Chase; and Supporters AT&T, Wyndham Destinations, APA Creative, among others.

Registration for the three events is free and voluntary donations will be accepted. As a nonprofit organization, Prospera hosts the Success Stories events annually to recognize outstanding clients while raising funds for its year-round services.

Prospera is an economic development, nonprofit organization that has specialized since 1991 in providing bilingual assistance to Hispanic entrepreneurs who want to establish, sustain, or grow their business. In the last five years, Prospera has facilitated over $57 million in loans, trained nearly 20,000 entrepreneurs, provided business consulting to more than 8,500 entrepreneurs, and helped consulting clients create or retain over 15,000 jobs. Its offices are in Florida's central, south, and west coast regions, and in Charlotte, North Carolina. For more information, visit www.prosperausa.org.

Media contact: Maria Yabrudy, 407-412-3303, [email protected]

SOURCE Prospera